Napoleon had nothing on these dudes

“Did I mention, my leg is 44 inches from hip to toe, so basically, we're talkin' about 88 inches of therapy… wrapped around you, for the bargain price of three thousand dollars.”

Who doesn’t remember that insightful-in-a-perky-prostitute-way quote from Pretty Woman, as sugar-sweet Vivian (aka “What Do You Want It To Be”) took a hot bath with Richard "I Tear Apart Companies As A Metaphor For My Interpersonal Relationship Struggles" Gere?

I remember watching that in 1990, all 5’10” of myself, and running to my mom’s closet, ripping open her sewing kit and measuring my own legs. 44 inches? Done and done. Sweet – I was semi-officially as sexy and therapeutic as Julia Roberts.

Women have always craved the long limbs of Gisele and Heidi, but who knew men were in on the body envy? I mean, I know my guy watches the NBA playoffs with the kind of fervor I typically reserve for a slice of cookie dough cheesecake or a season finale of Gossip Girl, but I never contemplated the fact he might be secretly envious of Tayshaun Prince’s 6’9” gams.

But according to a press release my iVillage editor just forwarded me, apparently more and more US men are opting to undergo freaking painful and totally elective leg-lengthening surgeries. The procedure can cost between up to $200,000 and involves breaking both legs and having telescopic pins inserted that the men slowly twist to lengthen their legs over time.

I’ve heard of this happening – but it’s usually associated with Chinese women and men. Check out this gut-wrenching description from The Guardian:

“Kong Jing-wen has paid £5,700 to have both of her legs broken and stretched on a rack. The pretty college graduate is now lying in bed, clearly still in considerable pain three days after a doctor sawed through the flesh and bone below her knee to insert what looks an awful lot like knitting needles through the length of her tibiae.

These giant steel pins are connected by eight screws punched horizontally through her ankle and calf to a steel cage surrounding each leg. Once the bone starts to heal, these cages will act like a medieval torture device - each day over the next few months Kong will turn the screws a fraction and stretch her limbs more and more until she has grown by 8cm.

Despite the agony, the cost and the inconvenience, the 23-year-old says she does not regret a thing. ‘It hurts, but it will be worth it to be taller. I'll have more opportunities in life and a better chance of finding a good job and husband.’”

Elective limb-lengthening surgery - supply and demand at work, people!

Sweet cracker sandwich! (PS I WILL be using this phrase until it gains mainstream acceptance). Can you even imagine? I mean, I know women opt to have their breasts sliced open and augmented, to have their noses hammered and reset, to have their foreheads slit and pulled up…but this just seems to take it to a whole new level.

According to the press release, Beverly Hills-based therapist Rebecca Roy, M.A., has seen the trend happening among men and says, “Height is such a big deal in the US. Men are judged on it, relationships are based on it and careers are changed by it. No wonder these guys are going through such painful operations.”

Part of me wants to faux-rub my eyes and cry, “Boo-hoo. Men have self-esteem problems in our society? REALLY? And I should care because...they somehow even approach in the most minute way the issues bombarding women and our looks?!” But I do understand that pressures to look a certain way impact guys, too. All of those airbrushed-on six pack abs magazine covers and those full heads of hair floating around Grey’s Anatomy, ya know.

Do I think an alarmingly high number of American men are sawing their legs in half to gain a few inches? No. Plastic surgery procedures in general may be at an all-time high (according to the latest procedural statistics report from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, almost 12 million cosmetic plastic surgery procedures were performed in 2007 - a 7 percent increase from 2006 and a 59 percent increase from 2000. These include a whopping 10 million cosmetic procedures such as Botox® and Restylane®, 348,000 breast augmentations, 302,000 liposuctions, and a partridge in a pear tree with a really nice eyelid lift.

No leg-lengthening to speak of.

But we know it happens – even though China did ban leg-lengthening a few years ago (ooh – grisly pic.) I found a website called Make Me Taller where members discuss the pros/cons of limb-lengthening and discuss their procedures – one MMT member describes himself as a “Leg Lengthening Veteran (+6.5cm)”; another, named “Sir,” posts a blog which begins, “I gained 11 cm in Kiev on my femors (sic). My story.” The website also includes click-on ads touting “Asian Cheekbone Surgery - Work With A Board Certified Plastic Surgeon. Online Consultation Form! www.AsianCosmeticSurgery.com”

A poster named NapoleonBoneApart (Heh heh. Heh?) writes, in a forum on whether to tell your girlfriend/fiancee about your limb-lengthening: “I am interested in LL but my long term girlfriend of five years is pretty set against it. Mostly she is concerned for my well being and she the fact that my height has never been an issue for her (she is 170 cm tall while I am 163cm). Being above average height for a woman, she does not fully understand my desire for LL which is unfortunate…

For me, my primary motivation is professional ,where in business there is a distinct disadvantage being shorter in the climb for upper management. I am not saying it is impossible to do at my current height [but] the effort expended to match my taller counterparts is substantial. Although I also happen to be fairly successful in my career despite my short stature I just want to push the envelope further.”

OK, so this stuff really IS happening. How do we make it stop?

Or do we? Isn’t it a person’s choice what they do with their body, elective surgically-speaking?

Comments

While I think it IS a person's choice what they are prepared to do surgically, I think we need to work to change the perception that short=weak and undesirable.

I know a lot of shorter guys who complain that women only want tall guys or that they don't feel as if they're taken seriously professionally. It's a perception that has to change IMO.

Great post as always :)

I have a lot of friends who said they would never date a man shorter than them. I think that's a pretty common rule for a lot of women. Short men get the short end of the stick in the dating pool.

I'll admit. I do have the No Short Guys rule. But I'm 5'2 to be shorter than me is pretty significant.

Now on to the professional reasons. That's interesting. I have a nasal-y voice that is exasperated by my Wisconsin twang. I.E. I sound like a 6-year-old. I've started to worry this is going to hold me back professionally. I wonder if there is vocal cord surgery that could help me move up the ladder. (KIDDING! I think...)

Interesting. I can't imagine going through that much pain and bed-time to gain a few inches of height. It just seems masochistic, and I hate pain.

It seems sad that anyone would feel their height is limiting their ability to date, get a job, be happy, but I guess it's not unreasonable. Look at how many people feel that way about their weight, nose, hair color, etc (which I also think is a sad state of affairs).

I'm 5'2", and I honestly never had an interest in really tall guys because I am so short. I want to be able to see my man's face and kiss him without needing a step-stool. My husband is 5'8", which I guess is on the short end for a man, but we fit perfectly together.

Wow. Growing up a tall girl who was super self-conscious about her overly long legs (hello, highwaters), it's hard for me to understand this phenomenon--especially among men!

Well, I'm 5'11" and for the most part I'm only attracted to guys taller than me. In general, I don't blame people for wanting to be taller. Though I struggled with my height when I was younger because I was taller than everyone, I love it now.. and my long legs :)

Why does this phenomna really shock anyone? As a whole, the human race has conditioned itself to rely on the media to mold perceptions on everything from Paris Hilton (who owes her entire self to media coverage) to how to perceive what's hot and what's not in terms of body beauty (I didn't intentionally mean to make a Paris pun; that was just irony).
Tom Cruise is referred to as one of the shortest men in Hollywood at his 5'7". In my family, that's a giant of a man (seriously, my brother's the tallest at 5'5"). Jennifer Love Hewitt and Tyra Banks have had their own share of "fat girl" media coverage and I really don't know many people who would call either girl fat (or maybe I'm just lucky?).
And then there's me. I married a guy who's 6'4" to my own 5'3". Please for one moment don't think I didn't hear the comments behind me about how come all the short girls end up with the tall guys. What astounded me was that some of these women, not all but some, were only an inch or two taller than me!

I've always wanted to be taller (I'm a little over 5 ft) and have heard about this surgery. However, my rule of thumb is to never go under the knife unless I have to. (granted I don't have the $200,000 for the surgery and would NOT want to experience that pain and not being able to use my legs for a while). However, if it were simpler, I would do it.

As for guys, I dated one 6'4". Talk about getting a neck ache!! :) I do like them to be at least 5'8" or 9"

i think im more shocked at the fact that these are men going through this proceedure. i mean, face it, most cosmetic surgeries are for the ladies, because men tend to not be as hung up on looks as women. Guess i was wrong. maybe they just hide it better, or women squawk about it more to get attention.

im going to get yelled at for that, aren't i?

I don't see a HUGE difference in limb lengthening surgery and cosmetic surgery, other than the fact that it seems more painful and currently LL is less accepted. Both are forms of body altering, usually to improve one's body image.

That said, yours truly measures in at 5'1. One of my closest girl friends is about 5'7. I've grown up witnessing the differences between myself and limb lengthy females, but if anything it's helped strengthen my character as I moved through the taunting stages of grade school and now consider myself a proud, successful woman. (I'm still a college student, but I don't have a doubt that climbing the business ladder has much more to do with hard work and dedication and much less to do with your height.)

Maybe I'm saying all this because I'm confident and comfortable with my height. Heck, my height didn't stop me from wrangling in a man! (My boyfriend is a full foot taller than me at 6'1.)

I just want to be able to find pants that aren't 8 feet too long, petites included.

I was at Ann taylor loft trying on petite pants and the worker says to me "we have those in petites." I said "these are petites." She felt really bad but I'm used to the pants that aren't meant for people who are 5 ft!

I have a height complex in that at 5'7" I think I am taller than everyone I meet. Seriously. I remember having an argument with my 5'11" roommate:
Me: I'm totally taller than you
Her: I can see the top of your head
Me: Well I'm at least as tall as you
Her: I CAN SEE THE TOP OF YOUR HEAD.

See - no limb surgery necessary if you can manage to be, um, out of touch with reality:)

As someone who has had her breasts sliced open and augmented (40th b-day present to myself 8 yrs ago) all I have to say is EWWWWW. WTF is the world coming to?

I am 5'11", and am constantly hearing "oh, it must be so nice to be tall." It's no use arguing with people. It's human nature to always want what you can't have. When I was growing up I wanted red hair and freckles. Guaranteed that if I actually had them, I would have desperately wanted to be blonde. It's also human nature to find something else to blame all our mistakes, hardships and bad luck on. "If only I was...then I would have gotten the girl/promotion/award/etc." Even if we all suddenly went blind, we would find something else to compare ourselves with and judge others.

This is scary. What's going to be next?

I've got one leg shorter than the other so there was the option to go with surgery, and the doctor would break the growth plates in my one leg and then they'd be the same length. Um, no thanks. I think I'll stick with the frustrating process of shoe shopping rather than have all the problems that come along with surgery and being in excruciating pain/unable to partake in activities for months on end!

I'm five feet tall on a good day, but the thought of this surgery creeps me out big time. Yikes.

PalmTreeChick, I feel your pants pain. Other people's capri pants are my perfect length ;-)

The only time I've longed to be taller is when I'm grocery shopping and can't reach the top shelf. You should see store management come running when I do my Spiderman impression and climb the shelves to the top.

I'm barely 5'3", but I'm happy with my height. I find I can get away with more by being shorter... people think I'm "cute." Ha! :)
Being female, I think I have it easier than a guy who is less than the tall, dark, and handsome "ideal."

I always wonder: if people who get plastic surgery "in order to feel better about (them)selves" instead gave the money to a good cause, would THAT make them feel any better about themselves? Probably not. But it would do a whole lotta good.

Anyway, I'm 5'9", my husband is 5"5, and his entire family is pretty short. (My M-I-L barely makes it to 5'. She's a retired nurse, and NO ONE messes with her,lol!) But he's gorgeous and wonderful, and an amazing dad, and I wouldn't want him any other way.

This surgery has always given me the heebie jeebies. If you want the dramatized version, check out the movie Gattaca.

But, is it any weirder than any of the other cosmetic surgery options out there? Vaginal rejuvenation, anyone?

Dara, I hear ya. I wear capris as pants too. Can't wear them with boots though.

And speaking of Vaginal rejuvenation...I had my lips done. No, not those lips, silly people. Just kidding. I never been under the knife. I do enjoy saying "My plastic surgeon who did my nose." (Broke it and had stitches. He just sewed it up for me, no surgical work needed. :P

my hubby used to bodybuild and always talks about his calves (doesnt have any, dont grow, bad genetics). I didnt think anything of it really until he started talking about calf implants! what?!! then I heard his guy friends talkig about chest implants, glute implants...it was the first time I realized that guys have these surgery fantasies too.

ps- no calf implants in this house. if we get any $$ for surgery it will be for my boob lift (sock-boobs anyone?)

I can save you $200,000 with 3 words:

Stand

Up

Straight

Wow. Leslie, thank you so much for this post. My initial reaction was horror - my God, people are having BONES broken on purpose? Height is just something I've never thought of as an issue - I'm 5'4", and some of the hottest guys I've ever met were not very much taller than I. My husband's 5'10" and my favorite boyfriend (previous of course!) was 5'7". It just isn't something I think about.

But then I thought - it really isn't different from having parts of you sliced open or carved off or stuffed with foreign substances, I suppose. And this is actually a bit of a wake-up call for me as I have seriously considered breast augmentation. I figured losing 80 pounds (by the time I'm done) wouldn't do the girls any favors and they would need some help. (50 pounds later, I'm still a healthy C cup and pleasantly surprised, tho.)

But...this is sort of a reality check. It is very scary to be undergoing voluntary self-mutilation as a way to gain acceptance. What a scary trend, and yet so very mainstream...

V.

first of all, i'm 5'9" and enjoy my height. my boyfriend is the same height as me (not ideal, i'll admit *hangs head in shame*), BUT, perk of perks, he has no issues with me when i wear heels to make me taller. yay!

on a side note, it's been a loooong time since i've seen the movie, but wasn't the procedure also used in "gattaca" to make the one character as tall as ... jude law's? ... character?

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